A recent editorial in the Staunton, Virginia News Leader started out by complimenting home schoolers for their educational and legislative accomplishments. Although the newspaper went on to make positive suggestions regarding two home school-related bills before the state legislature, it then endorsed another bill that could seriously harm not just home schoolers, but all private education in the Old Dominion.

This measure, House Bill 663, would not allow any student to receive a diploma from a Virginia state college unless he or she passed the state Standards of Learning (SOL) tests. This would apply to both resident and out-of-state students.

Home School Legal Defense Association and Home Educators Association of Virginia (HEAV) strongly oppose this bill. (Read more about H.B. 663.) To combat the newspaper's endorsement of this bad idea, HSLDA fired off a letter to the editor explaining the harm that the bill would cause.

Virginia is only one of many state legislatures now in session. What's on the docket for your state? To find out the status of home school freedom in your state OR/ to see the legislative "hot spots" around the nation, check our state legislation map.